15 Jun Marseillaise Cocktail Recipe

Posted at 07:00h in Blog, Cocktail Recipes, Cocktail Recipes: Modern by Roberts & June

Marseillaise Cocktail Recipe

We mentioned earlier this week that we recently had a few rounds of drinks with fortified wine importer Leith Shenstone. While drinking Nido‘s excellent, vermouth-centric drinks, we swapped recipes for some of our favorite low alcohol cocktails. We shared one of Leith’s, The Fortunate Mistake, earlier this week. It actually comes in a set; the Fortunate Mistake is the red twin, and today’s drink, the Marseillaise, is the white twin.

Back in the early days of vermouth, there were two rather distinct styles: the French style, which was drier and more herbal; and the Italian style, which was sweeter and tended more in the direction of baking spices. Eventually, all vermouth houses, whether in France, Italy, or elsewhere, began to make both styles; and distinguishing by nationality became a little confusing. What used to be ‘French’ is now simply called ‘dry,’ and what was ‘Italian’ is now ‘sweet.’ The old terms linger a bit, though, in old recipe books and when people want to be literary or classicist.

So, maybe The Fortunate Mistake and The Marseillaise are actually more like twin cousins, one Italian and the other French. We actually used a dry vermouth from Italy, but–hey–both kinds of St. Raphael are produced in France. Didn’t the borders between the two countries used to shift a lot anyway?

If you want to carry the French theme, use a Cremant instead of a prosecco; it’s French, cheaper than Champagne, and depending on the kind, slightly less bubbly.

Whether French, Italian, or a little bit of both, this is a wonderfully crisp and light drink, with nice gently sweet floral touches. It’s a great drink for sipping on a patio in the afternoon.